I have made many gear lists in the past few years. I find it really helps to organize your gear, encourages you to evaluate each choice of gear critically (i.e. weight and utility), and discourages you from forgetting anything important. I recently sat down and made an updated version of my summertime gear list. This gear list is under 10lbs, which is generally considered to be ultralight. I will soon be going on vacation to Spain with my family, but when I get back I can't wait to test it out. I also plan on testing out a super-ultralight (base weight of gear under 5lbs) set of gear, something I have never done before, just to see how it goes.
Here she blows:
Cesar’s Overnight Gear List Summer 2011
Gear
Weight (g)
Notes
Backpack
840
Golite Jam
Sleep system
830
Synthetic warm weather sleeping bag, polyester sweater, beanie, socks
Shelter
1035
Big Agnes FCUL1
Ground cover
215
Homemade
Personal survival kit
222
Crank flashlight, string, whistle, firesteel, space blanket, candle, pen, paper, duct tape
First aid kit
152
Gauze roll, gauze pad, safety pins, 3 doses Tylenol, band-aids, butterfly strips, tape, latex gloves, alcohol pads, tweezers, sewing kit, mini-Bic lighter, tissues
Mess kit
141
Titanium pot (700ml), tin foil lid, plastic mug, plastic spoon, sponge
Knife/sheath
143
Mora Bushcraft Forest
Water bottles (2)
42
1.5 liters total volume
Compass/mirror
79
Garbage bag
77
Rope
30
Rain Poncho
220
This stays in the car if there is little/no chance of rain
Hygiene kit
132
Towel, biodegradable soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm
TOTAL BASE WEIGHT
4158 grams
9.15 pounds
Food bag
575
3 meals, 2 snacks
Water
1500
Boil more to sanitize if needed
TOTAL BACKPACK WEIGHT
6223 grams
13.70 pounds
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Importance of Location
In general, there are some pragmatic options to keep in mind when you pick a campsite, but of course there is a subjective element at play with every camper having certain preferences about where they choose to make camp. So rather than just list off some static examples of what makes a "good" campsite (water source, solid ground, nice views, etc.), I thought it would be more useful and interesting to examine some real campsites from a few trips I recently went on.
I have been camping and exploring a very remote part of Sweden near the boarder of Norway for several years now. I have really fallen in love with a huge patch of challenging, raw, beautiful, isolated woods. Much of this patch is even doesn't even have any trails or roads, but on occasion there are some old logging paths and dirt backroads that are helpful in navigation and cutting through or around more unpleasant patches, like swamp and impassible cliffs. I named this whole area the Bråten (Swedish for rubble or ruins) woods, after discovering a ruined old cottage out there on my first camping trip there.
Last month I spent a few nights in Bråten woods with some bushcraft buddies I met through a website, and this past weekend I spent the whole weekend there as well, but this time with members of the camping club I founded and run called GUCK. Both trips were amazing fun and I was lucky to be around such excellent company! On both trips I was reminded just how important the aspect of location can be when choosing a campsite. But before getting into the details, let's enjoy some pictures! The first three pictures are more relevant to the topic at hand (more on that soon) and the last four I just thought were cool:
There are many other factors and aspects of locations you choose to camp, but the ones examined here are often the more central or important ones to take into consideration. Being wet and covered in bug bites is bound to put nearly everyone in a bad mood, so if you are able and willing, try and account for these details.
Yet at the same time, don't get too discouraged if you find yourself having to deal with rough conditions at your chosen campsite (especially the deeper in the woods you go); part of the fun is the challenge of dealing with rough conditions and in the end making things as comfortable and cozy as possible. If anything, it makes your return home seem all the more luxurious. Camping can really highlight how much we take simple pleasures for granted, like clean tap water at hand at all times, shelter from the wind and rain, warm food easy to produce, etc.
These two trips were amazing and everyone had a great time, in spite of some of the more difficult aspects of the locations my groups and I had to deal with. Well...11 camping trips so far this year, and my hunger to get back out into the woods remains the same.
I have been camping and exploring a very remote part of Sweden near the boarder of Norway for several years now. I have really fallen in love with a huge patch of challenging, raw, beautiful, isolated woods. Much of this patch is even doesn't even have any trails or roads, but on occasion there are some old logging paths and dirt backroads that are helpful in navigation and cutting through or around more unpleasant patches, like swamp and impassible cliffs. I named this whole area the Bråten (Swedish for rubble or ruins) woods, after discovering a ruined old cottage out there on my first camping trip there.
Last month I spent a few nights in Bråten woods with some bushcraft buddies I met through a website, and this past weekend I spent the whole weekend there as well, but this time with members of the camping club I founded and run called GUCK. Both trips were amazing fun and I was lucky to be around such excellent company! On both trips I was reminded just how important the aspect of location can be when choosing a campsite. But before getting into the details, let's enjoy some pictures! The first three pictures are more relevant to the topic at hand (more on that soon) and the last four I just thought were cool:
May trip, Johan and I checking out the lake near our first campsite.
May trip, 2nd night with our Bushcraft buddies. Left to right is Ruben, Johan, Jon, me, and Chris. Thanks again to Chris for posting these pictures.
June trip, a view from across the lake of our campsite on our 2nd night out. A large bog is hidden around the bend of the penninsula.
June trip, the view from our first campsite.
June trip, the view from one of the hills we climbed up on our way to our 2nd campsite.
June trip, climbing around the cliffs that surrounded the lake near our 2nd campsite.
The GUCK crew taking a break in the middle of nowhere. Left to right, Lena, Jenny, Lovisa, Mr. Beardy's legs and arm, and me. I only look so serious because it's tricky to take a good picture on your own.
Location can make a big difference on your general comfort level while camping, and certain details are often neglected or forgotten. In my case on these two trips, I understood the risks involved in the locations that were picked, but took my chances to observe what would happen.
On the first night of my May trip, there were clear skys so Johan and I chose to sleep out in the open with no shelter, but lots of cover from the woods (trees, brush, etc.). The cover and vegitation soaked up and prevented any condensation, and we woke up dry as a bone. We also slept only 20-25 meters from a lake (1st picture above), but were not given any problems from bugs.
We then meet up with the other guys on the 2nd night, and all agreed that the weather still looked good with little chance of rain, so we opted again to sleep out in the open. This time, however, we slept in a clearing (2nd picture). When we woke up, all our gear and sleeping bags were soaked with condensation, but at least we still had no issues with bugs. Lucky for us, the sun came up and we were able to hang our sleeping bags and such, and everything dried up in not too long.
On the June trip, the first night the group decided to sleep in an abandoned house I had stumbled upon that was in habitable condition. This choice had a lot to do with the fact that it was raining all day. It was a bit of a gamble, as who knows what animals might be using the house, or what leaks there might be, but it worked out great. It was very cozy and everyone slept well.
The 2nd night of this trip we would spend next to a lake, only this lake I had not been to before, so we would have to scout for a good spot for a campsite once we got there. After a long and tough hike through rough terrain, we get to the lake and it is amazing. We see a large penninsula on the other side of the lake and agree to make camp there. We did notice a bog on the other side of the penninsula, which would pose a bigger bug issue, but we had bug spray with us and also figured that we could have a fire going to help keep them away. We set up camp after a nice swim just 10-15 meters away from the lake.
We soon found to our shock just how bad of a bug situation we would have to deal with. The bug spray simply didn't work against the millions and millions of biting midges that were waiting for us. We got a fire going, and that didn't help either unless you stood direcly in the smoke of the fire, which is no fun getting all that smoke in your eyes. Then before we can even talk about moving spots, it starts to rain, so too tired to care, we kept our campsite but hid in our tents from both rain and getting eaten alive.
The point is, try and take as much into account when picking your campsite, and be ready to deal with any down-sides that might come with any given site. Also keep in mind that two campsites might look very much alike, but camping at each might be very different experiences--often for less than obvious factors--or reasons out of your control. For example, sleeping near a lake.
Some lakes don't have much or any bog/swamp, and thus have less stagnant water, which amounts to less mosquitoes and biting midgs (e.g. May trip 1st night vs. June trip 2nd night). Clearings are great for watching the stars at night, but expect to be wet in the morning after sleeping in the middle of a clearing without any cover. Having water close by makes life easier, being able to drink the water (sanitize if needed), and in the case of larger bodies of water, one can also swim and/or wash clothing. So access to water may trump dealing with bugs.
Some lakes don't have much or any bog/swamp, and thus have less stagnant water, which amounts to less mosquitoes and biting midgs (e.g. May trip 1st night vs. June trip 2nd night). Clearings are great for watching the stars at night, but expect to be wet in the morning after sleeping in the middle of a clearing without any cover. Having water close by makes life easier, being able to drink the water (sanitize if needed), and in the case of larger bodies of water, one can also swim and/or wash clothing. So access to water may trump dealing with bugs.
There are many other factors and aspects of locations you choose to camp, but the ones examined here are often the more central or important ones to take into consideration. Being wet and covered in bug bites is bound to put nearly everyone in a bad mood, so if you are able and willing, try and account for these details.
Yet at the same time, don't get too discouraged if you find yourself having to deal with rough conditions at your chosen campsite (especially the deeper in the woods you go); part of the fun is the challenge of dealing with rough conditions and in the end making things as comfortable and cozy as possible. If anything, it makes your return home seem all the more luxurious. Camping can really highlight how much we take simple pleasures for granted, like clean tap water at hand at all times, shelter from the wind and rain, warm food easy to produce, etc.
These two trips were amazing and everyone had a great time, in spite of some of the more difficult aspects of the locations my groups and I had to deal with. Well...11 camping trips so far this year, and my hunger to get back out into the woods remains the same.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Five pleasant camping luxuries (wants)
A follow up to my last post about needs, this time exploring five of my current favorite luxuries to take with me to the woods. Some people might call certain choices not "wants" but "needs", and I already went over the subjective nature of these concepts. Suffice to say, I would argue you don't "need" the following five items from a survival perspective, and can improvise solutions to replace these things, which I will cover shortly.
Here they are:
1. (top left) Small tin of instant coffee (weight 42g), small tub of powdered milk (24g), fast food sugar packs (about 5g each).
2. (top right) Small tin of spices (25g), fast food salt packs (about 2g each).
3. (middle left) Insect repellant (57g)
4. (middle right) Lip balm (12g)
5. (bottom) Hygiene kit (about 90g total), note that the soap is biodegradable.
I left out costs because a lot of the above are free/recycled, or very cheap. The uses should be fairly obvious, but of course I like to note more not-so-obvious uses that might be helpful.
Having coffee/tea around while camping encourages hydration, as sometimes drinking plain water can be boring. You have to boil water in order to make a good hot cup of coffee/tea, which will sanitize the water, and if it is cool or cold outside, a hot drink also helps prevent or combat hypothermia. Adding some sugar gives a small kick of energy, which is often needed while out in the woods, as hiking out to get there in the first place is often a work out (especially through rough terrain). Also keep in mind that the containers themselves can be useful tools, for example the coffee tin could be emptied and used as a small cup to drink from (say a friend forgot one) or to gather bugs/worms for bait for fishing.
Spices and salt add zest and flavor to food, encouraging you to eat more, which is important so that you have energy. Camping is not a good time or place to start a diet or a fast, especially if there is an emergency situation--say you get hurt. You will need extra energy to make it through a crisis, so eat well out in the wild. Spices have other benifits, depending which one, for example garlic powder is a favorite of mine and garlic is also a natural insect repellant. Salt aids in hydration, and can also be used to make a salt water solution to gargle if you have a sore throat, or to clean out stuffy sinuses.
Insect repellant is very often quite flammable, so it can double as an emergency firestarter and fuel source.
Lip balm need not only be used on the lips, you can also rub it on other parts of your body that might be dry. It is mostly fat, so you could melt it down and mix it with wood ashes to make a crude soap.
The toothbrush can also be used in first aid. I recently went on a day-hike with my sister in law, and she cut her finger. I made sure to rinse the cut with some clean water, but noticed there was some dirt stuck in the cut (and of course it is important to prevent an infection to remove all debris from a wound), and it was tricky to finally remove all the little bits of dirt. Having a toothbrush would have made it easier, but since it was just a day-trip I didn't bring it with me. The toothpaste can also be used on a boil or pimple (a classic high-school trick for zits) to prevent it from getting worse, and the soap can also be used to wash not just your body but your clothing too.
Did you forget these at home? Here are some alternatives:
1. Make a wild herbal tea. You can use lots of different plants, a classic bushcraft treat is lumberjack tea, and all it takes is hot water and some pine needles. Nearly all pine needles are edible, and have vitamins as well to keep you healthy. You can also boil up a handful of berries, add some sugar and you have the bushcraft version of Kool-Aid.
2. As above with wild herbal tea, you can also gather herbs to cook with for more flavor. Wild onions or ramps are a great find, for example. Then of course there are wild mushrooms that are one of my favorite things to eat. Be VERY careful anytime you venture into wild edibles, however, as there are plenty of poisonous plants and fungi out there, and you must be 100% sure of what you eat. In the future I will devote more time to the wonderful subject of wild edibles, especially mushrooms, which I am a huge aficionado of.
3. By now you should be detecting a pattern. Yup, you guessed it, mother nature also provides natural insect repellants. Some you can ingest and will make your general scent you give off less attractive to bugs, like garlic which I already mentioned. Others you use externally. Cinnamon is another example, and can be used both on the inside or outside of your body, and tastes and smells very good to most people (myself included).
Whitecedar trees are also effective at keeping bugs away, if you can find it (not to be confused with true cedar trees). Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea, Swedish Gatkamomill, and pictured below) also repells bugs, and I have found this growing in center-city parking lots here in Sweden. If you find either of these natural insect repellants (or others), just mash some of it up in your hand and rub it on yourself or your clothing.
I am lucky in that I love garlic, onions, and cinnamon and used all three at home often. Even when I don't use any insect repellant, I usually don't get that many bug bites. What also helps is to use a soap with lemon, lavender, or eucalyptus oil (which I also do) at home, which are also effective repellants. A body soap/rub that I highly recommend is called "Rub Rub Rub" and has lemon oil in it, and is availible at Lush.
4. If your lips get dry, and you have any kind of cooking oil with you like olive oil, problem solved. But what if you don't have any lip balm or oil? Maybe you have nuts with you, a common camping snack that are high in fat. Mash some up between two rocks and rub the paste on your lips, and then eat the paste. If your lips are very chapped, however, be careful with the salt (ouch!) that most nuts are coated with! Rinse them first then mash.
5. Make an improvised toothbrush out of a twig. It's easy, all you have to do is find a nice, clean, birch tree twig; then peel the bark off and chew on it. Once it is soft and the fibers split from chewing, you can rub your teeth, and the inner bark of birch can be ingested safely. You can also make a natural mouthwash by boiling acorns which are high in tannins that are astringent, just be careful not to swallow, as too many tannins can make you sick.
With the low weight and cost of these nice luxuries, there is little reason not to take these or similar luxuries (tea bags rather than coffee, for example, if you don't like coffee) with you to the woods. Only the more hardcore ultralight zealot would scoff at bringing these five items, which total weigh only around 264g. Remember the goal is to have a good time, and small comforts like a hot cup of coffee, yummy food, no bug bites, kissable lips, and being nice and clean ("So fresh and so clean-clean!") work wonders in making a camping trip a more pleasant experience.
Here they are:
1. (top left) Small tin of instant coffee (weight 42g), small tub of powdered milk (24g), fast food sugar packs (about 5g each).
2. (top right) Small tin of spices (25g), fast food salt packs (about 2g each).
3. (middle left) Insect repellant (57g)
4. (middle right) Lip balm (12g)
5. (bottom) Hygiene kit (about 90g total), note that the soap is biodegradable.
I left out costs because a lot of the above are free/recycled, or very cheap. The uses should be fairly obvious, but of course I like to note more not-so-obvious uses that might be helpful.
Having coffee/tea around while camping encourages hydration, as sometimes drinking plain water can be boring. You have to boil water in order to make a good hot cup of coffee/tea, which will sanitize the water, and if it is cool or cold outside, a hot drink also helps prevent or combat hypothermia. Adding some sugar gives a small kick of energy, which is often needed while out in the woods, as hiking out to get there in the first place is often a work out (especially through rough terrain). Also keep in mind that the containers themselves can be useful tools, for example the coffee tin could be emptied and used as a small cup to drink from (say a friend forgot one) or to gather bugs/worms for bait for fishing.
Spices and salt add zest and flavor to food, encouraging you to eat more, which is important so that you have energy. Camping is not a good time or place to start a diet or a fast, especially if there is an emergency situation--say you get hurt. You will need extra energy to make it through a crisis, so eat well out in the wild. Spices have other benifits, depending which one, for example garlic powder is a favorite of mine and garlic is also a natural insect repellant. Salt aids in hydration, and can also be used to make a salt water solution to gargle if you have a sore throat, or to clean out stuffy sinuses.
Insect repellant is very often quite flammable, so it can double as an emergency firestarter and fuel source.
Lip balm need not only be used on the lips, you can also rub it on other parts of your body that might be dry. It is mostly fat, so you could melt it down and mix it with wood ashes to make a crude soap.
The toothbrush can also be used in first aid. I recently went on a day-hike with my sister in law, and she cut her finger. I made sure to rinse the cut with some clean water, but noticed there was some dirt stuck in the cut (and of course it is important to prevent an infection to remove all debris from a wound), and it was tricky to finally remove all the little bits of dirt. Having a toothbrush would have made it easier, but since it was just a day-trip I didn't bring it with me. The toothpaste can also be used on a boil or pimple (a classic high-school trick for zits) to prevent it from getting worse, and the soap can also be used to wash not just your body but your clothing too.
Did you forget these at home? Here are some alternatives:
1. Make a wild herbal tea. You can use lots of different plants, a classic bushcraft treat is lumberjack tea, and all it takes is hot water and some pine needles. Nearly all pine needles are edible, and have vitamins as well to keep you healthy. You can also boil up a handful of berries, add some sugar and you have the bushcraft version of Kool-Aid.
2. As above with wild herbal tea, you can also gather herbs to cook with for more flavor. Wild onions or ramps are a great find, for example. Then of course there are wild mushrooms that are one of my favorite things to eat. Be VERY careful anytime you venture into wild edibles, however, as there are plenty of poisonous plants and fungi out there, and you must be 100% sure of what you eat. In the future I will devote more time to the wonderful subject of wild edibles, especially mushrooms, which I am a huge aficionado of.
3. By now you should be detecting a pattern. Yup, you guessed it, mother nature also provides natural insect repellants. Some you can ingest and will make your general scent you give off less attractive to bugs, like garlic which I already mentioned. Others you use externally. Cinnamon is another example, and can be used both on the inside or outside of your body, and tastes and smells very good to most people (myself included).
Whitecedar trees are also effective at keeping bugs away, if you can find it (not to be confused with true cedar trees). Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea, Swedish Gatkamomill, and pictured below) also repells bugs, and I have found this growing in center-city parking lots here in Sweden. If you find either of these natural insect repellants (or others), just mash some of it up in your hand and rub it on yourself or your clothing.
I am lucky in that I love garlic, onions, and cinnamon and used all three at home often. Even when I don't use any insect repellant, I usually don't get that many bug bites. What also helps is to use a soap with lemon, lavender, or eucalyptus oil (which I also do) at home, which are also effective repellants. A body soap/rub that I highly recommend is called "Rub Rub Rub" and has lemon oil in it, and is availible at Lush.
4. If your lips get dry, and you have any kind of cooking oil with you like olive oil, problem solved. But what if you don't have any lip balm or oil? Maybe you have nuts with you, a common camping snack that are high in fat. Mash some up between two rocks and rub the paste on your lips, and then eat the paste. If your lips are very chapped, however, be careful with the salt (ouch!) that most nuts are coated with! Rinse them first then mash.
5. Make an improvised toothbrush out of a twig. It's easy, all you have to do is find a nice, clean, birch tree twig; then peel the bark off and chew on it. Once it is soft and the fibers split from chewing, you can rub your teeth, and the inner bark of birch can be ingested safely. You can also make a natural mouthwash by boiling acorns which are high in tannins that are astringent, just be careful not to swallow, as too many tannins can make you sick.
With the low weight and cost of these nice luxuries, there is little reason not to take these or similar luxuries (tea bags rather than coffee, for example, if you don't like coffee) with you to the woods. Only the more hardcore ultralight zealot would scoff at bringing these five items, which total weigh only around 264g. Remember the goal is to have a good time, and small comforts like a hot cup of coffee, yummy food, no bug bites, kissable lips, and being nice and clean ("So fresh and so clean-clean!") work wonders in making a camping trip a more pleasant experience.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
My top five pieces of camping gear (needs)
Wants vs. needs: when it comes to camping, what does each term mean? Wants and needs are two very subjective words to be sure, one could say that all we really need is air, water, food, and the rest are just details. However, there are things you bring with you (camping and otherwise) that are more useful than other things. Plus, if it were to come down to survival or life-and-death situations, certain gear is going to be more important to have over other gear. That being said, here are the five items that nearly always come with me into the woods:
From left to right:
1. Big, black, garbage bag - weight 77g - cost, about 3 SEK
2. Knife and sheath (Mora Forest Bushcraft model) - 143g - 199 SEK
3. Swedish firesteel (Light My Fire) - 28g - 79 SEK
4. Map and compass - 135g total - cost varies depending on the map I am using (some are free), and the compass was a gift from my wife so not sure about the price (there are compasses as low as 50 and range all the way to several hundred SEK)
5. Titanium pot (Snow Peak 700ml) - 92g - gift from my father, but solo titanium pots range between 300-500 SEK (my father said it was around 40 USD in the USA)
Some common uses:
1. Ground cover to sit/lay/kneel, backpack rain cover, container to gather water, mini-tarp for a improvised shelter, stuffed with leaves/moss for a sleeping mat or pillow.
2. Carve grill sticks to cook food or chop sticks to eat, gut and clean fish, slice up food or cut up your garbage bag, split firewood, trim poles and sticks for improvised shelter.
3. Start a fire, one of the most important elements in camping/survival, can even spark in wet conditions, and has about 3000 strikes worth of sparks. Fire provides heat, light, a means to sanitize your water and cook your food, keeps mosquitoes away, raises morale, and even the ashes that are left after a fire goes out can be used to make an improvised soap when combined with fat.
4. Find where you are going, especially useful/important if you get lost. Some compasses, like mine, have a mirror (not just handy to see yourself, but also to signal), a magnifying glass, and most compasses have small rulers where you can measure several centimeters (if anything, good for figuring out exactly how big a fish is if you catch a big one and want bragging rights :)).
5. Collect water, boil water, cook food, doubles as a large mug if you make coffee/tea, container to collect wild edibles like berries or mushrooms.
Aside from these more common usages, there are other uses for perhaps a more desperate situation. For example, the garbage bag can be made into an extra layer of improvised clothing if you are cold, and of course is also water proof. A knife makes an excellent weapon, should you be forced to defend yourself, and can also be used to gut and clean any other animals for food, not just fish. If you are unable or unwilling to have a fire at night, and an unwanted animal visitor shows up, you could scare it away with the sparks (they are quite bright) and a few yells. The map can always be used as an emergency firestarter or crude gauze (unless you are lost of course!), and the compass is made of plastic, so it can be melted down and used as improvised glue or fuel (again, only if you are desperate and not lost). The pot could be used as a dry, portable stove if fire is a priority and conditions are difficult (and perhaps time and energy are a factor) for a traditional campfire.
My next post will cover five of my favorite wants or camping luxuries, which make the time you spend out in the woods more enjoyable, and at not much of a burden in both weight and cost.
From left to right:
1. Big, black, garbage bag - weight 77g - cost, about 3 SEK
2. Knife and sheath (Mora Forest Bushcraft model) - 143g - 199 SEK
3. Swedish firesteel (Light My Fire) - 28g - 79 SEK
4. Map and compass - 135g total - cost varies depending on the map I am using (some are free), and the compass was a gift from my wife so not sure about the price (there are compasses as low as 50 and range all the way to several hundred SEK)
5. Titanium pot (Snow Peak 700ml) - 92g - gift from my father, but solo titanium pots range between 300-500 SEK (my father said it was around 40 USD in the USA)
Some common uses:
1. Ground cover to sit/lay/kneel, backpack rain cover, container to gather water, mini-tarp for a improvised shelter, stuffed with leaves/moss for a sleeping mat or pillow.
2. Carve grill sticks to cook food or chop sticks to eat, gut and clean fish, slice up food or cut up your garbage bag, split firewood, trim poles and sticks for improvised shelter.
3. Start a fire, one of the most important elements in camping/survival, can even spark in wet conditions, and has about 3000 strikes worth of sparks. Fire provides heat, light, a means to sanitize your water and cook your food, keeps mosquitoes away, raises morale, and even the ashes that are left after a fire goes out can be used to make an improvised soap when combined with fat.
4. Find where you are going, especially useful/important if you get lost. Some compasses, like mine, have a mirror (not just handy to see yourself, but also to signal), a magnifying glass, and most compasses have small rulers where you can measure several centimeters (if anything, good for figuring out exactly how big a fish is if you catch a big one and want bragging rights :)).
5. Collect water, boil water, cook food, doubles as a large mug if you make coffee/tea, container to collect wild edibles like berries or mushrooms.
Aside from these more common usages, there are other uses for perhaps a more desperate situation. For example, the garbage bag can be made into an extra layer of improvised clothing if you are cold, and of course is also water proof. A knife makes an excellent weapon, should you be forced to defend yourself, and can also be used to gut and clean any other animals for food, not just fish. If you are unable or unwilling to have a fire at night, and an unwanted animal visitor shows up, you could scare it away with the sparks (they are quite bright) and a few yells. The map can always be used as an emergency firestarter or crude gauze (unless you are lost of course!), and the compass is made of plastic, so it can be melted down and used as improvised glue or fuel (again, only if you are desperate and not lost). The pot could be used as a dry, portable stove if fire is a priority and conditions are difficult (and perhaps time and energy are a factor) for a traditional campfire.
My next post will cover five of my favorite wants or camping luxuries, which make the time you spend out in the woods more enjoyable, and at not much of a burden in both weight and cost.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Sleep... Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Sleeping in the Wild
What defines camping as camping and not, for example, hiking is spending the night in the wild. This means sleeping out in the wild, which of course presents several challenges, but these challenges can be easily overcome, and if done properly ensure a good night’s sleep equal or even better than sleeping at home. Let us example some solutions with the goal in mind of sleeping comfortably out in nature.
Due to a large part of camping having to do with this sleeping aspect, I strongly suggest that the would-be or novice camper take this aspect very seriously. It really can mean the difference between a pleasant trip and an unpleasant trip. There are of course many options and alternatives, but I will go over the most common and/or accessible ones. Remember the most important fundamentals of having a good night’s sleep are to be both warm and dry, and these two elements should always be achieved while camping. Only after covering warmth and dryness should one then move on to personal preferences about comfort. Staying dry is the job of a good shelter, such as a tent or tarp, so the focus here will be on warmth.
There are generally four effective methods to staying warm in the wild: clothing, sleeping bag, insulation from the ground, and fire. Fire is not always an option to keep a novice camper warm all through the night, is not possible in a tent, and also goes into a more advanced realm of survival knowledge; thus, the focus will be on the other three areas of staying warm.
Clothing is entirely up to the individual camper, and most people already have the clothing they need at home to stay warm. As such, little will be said here about clothing. One should keep the weather in mind, and dress accordingly. Extra clothing and changes of clothing are possible of course, but also keep in mind that one can also wear the same clothing worn during the day to sleep at night without having to bring as much extra clothing. An overnight trip is a short adventure, so one can always change into clean clothing after coming back home and having a nice hot shower/bath. One can also use rain gear for addtional layers of warmth.
A big debate in the diverse camping communities regarding sleep centers around sleeping bags, and from my experience more dedicated campers (especially UL campers) seem to favor down bags more. For example, there is much debate within the choices of sleeping bags, which are nearly all either made up of synthetic or down feather filling. Both synthetic bags and down feather bags have their pros and cons (but usually look the same, so I won’t put pictures as examples):
Synthetic sleeping bags
Pros: Cheaper, easier to dry off when wet, will still provide some warmth when wet
Cons: Heavier, bulkier, not as warm as down in extreme cold
Down sleeping bags
Pros: Lightweight, easier to compress/less bulky, warmer in extreme cold
Cons: Expensive, difficult to dry when wet, will not provide much warmth when wet
All sleeping bags have a temperature rating, which is the recommendations of the manufacturer, but remember that comfort is subjective and everyone is different. The temperature ratings, however, are useful to evaluate the general warmth abilities of a given sleeping bag. There are often different temperature ratings for men and women, women seeming to in general require more warmth than men. I am admittedly ignorant as to why, but from my experiences I can say that this has been the accurate.
There are summertime sleeping bags that weigh less, and offer enough warmth for warmer summer nights, around 15 to 10 degrees C. There are winter bags than weigh more and offer warmth up to extreme cold down as far as -40! Then there are bags that are known as “3 season” bags, which range in between these temperatures. My main sleeping bag, for example, has a comfort rating of 5 for men, and an extreme rating of -7.
The temperature rating can be adjusted by the user many ways. Clothing is the most obvious method, wearing more clothing inside a sleeping bag will make you warmer. But one can also bring a bivy bag (a cover for your sleeping bag that is often water resistant), a cotton or silk sheet, or small blanket to put inside the sleeping bag. These are more conventional solutions, and are very effective at providing and retaining warmth. More unconventional yet effective are using space blankets, rain ponchos, and garbage bags inside the sleeping bag for more warmth--or go "barbarian" style and stuff your sleeping bag full of natural material like leaves, moss, and grass. It is also worth noting that some campers prefer to use wool blankets rather than sleeping bags, but keep in mind that these can be both bulky and heavy.
The next important factor in keeping yourself warm while you sleep is insulation from the ground. Your body heat is sucked away into the earth due to convection, and cold air sinks and warm air rises. To combat these constant factors of heat loss in the wild, one ought to separate one’s self from the ground as much as possible to stay warm and keep warmth. There are several different methods to accomplish this, and can also be used together in combinations if needed for added protection. Here an additional option should be noted, which is to sleep in a hammock.
Hammocks present different challenges, which I will not go into here, and also require that there are two strong anchors (such as two trees) in order to function. So sleeping on the ground is a more flexible option, as there are not always two trees just the right distance apart to set up a hammock, which is why I personally do nearly all my sleeping on the ground rather than a hammock. I don't have anything against them, and they are a good option to be sure, but not if you want to sleep say, right next to a lake or in a clearing.
Before moving on to several of the most common and effective sleep/warmth aids, I strongly recommend that no matter how you choose to sleep on the ground outdoors, that you use a ground cover, such as a large piece of plastic/tarp, for waterproofing and protection from any rough things like sticks from damaging your mat and/or tent. Here is an example of a ground cover, my homemade one of tarp and space blanket:
Natural materials (pine branches, leaves, etc.):
Pros: Free, organic, ecological, readily available/zero weight in backpack
Cons: Takes time and energy to gather and build
Foam mat:
Pros: Cheap, lightweight, non-inflatable saves some time/energy, if damaged they don’t deflate
Cons: Bulky, mediocre insulation
Note: Can be trimmed down to save on bulk/weight to torso length, as your legs require less insulation and padding
Inflatable mat:
Pros: Easy to pack/compress, usually lighter weight than self-inflating mats, good insulation
Cons: Expensive, takes time and energy to blow up, if damaged they deflate Note: Best used with synthetic sleeping bags, availible in both regular and "mummy" shape (picture above)
Self-inflating mat:
Pros: Easy to unroll and use, inflates itself (mostly), good insulation
Cons: Expensive, bulky, usually heaviest mat choice, if damaged they deflate Notes: Best used with down sleeping bags, availible in regular and torso sizes
Again, comfort is subjective, so one ought to give thought to what one likes as far as sleeping goes. Some people like very soft bedding, others like firm bedding. The softest choice is an inflatable mat (or a hammock), and the firmest is just a ground cover over natural materials.
There is a lot more information out there on the subject sleeping outdoors, but of course you should be careful with what kind of information you read. Just because some guy from Indiana claims to sleep inside a hole in the ground, does not mean it is true or that it is an effective or pleasant way to sleep in the wild. Always be skeptical! Due to sleeping being such a big part of camping, I strongly suggest time be taken to find the best solution that works for you, and if there is any type of gear to spend a little extra money on, I would say that a good sleeping bag and mat are things that are worth it.
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